Kenzo’s Safari Street Chic

Backstage at Kenzo may be the only place you hear the words “modern techno jungle rave” mentioned as the makeup inspiration during Paris Fashion Week, but, then again, it’s just that kind of youthful energy that has earned Humberto Leon and Carol Lim a legion of cool girl fans.

“They wanted it to feel like the [models] walked into the jungle at the beginning of the show—and became one with it at the end,” said makeup artist Yadim, who, dressed in a sideways Kenzo baseball hat and gray sweatshirt backstage, looked like a case study on the type of downtown 20-something who may be drawn to the label under Leon and Lim’s tenure himself.

To bring an element of the collection to the face, he traced models’ eyes with a graphic rim of M.A.C. Chromaline pigments (in bold shades like tangerine, canary, and forest green) that were plucked straight from the look they’d be wearing down the runway. “Girls like Ajak [Deng] start off with a nudey beige, while someone [like Frida Gustavvson] will have bright yellow,” he said, explaining the progression of the show, which moved from safari-inspired neutrals to digitalized jungle patterns before giving way to a finale’s worth of vibrant animal prints. Natural skin, easy hair, and matching nails (like the spot-on custom green matched to swatches of fabric from the collection by manicurist Marian Newman for M.A.C.) kept things feeling fresh.

“It’s really kind of a party look,” said Yadim of the makeup’s fun, buoyant, street-influenced appeal—something that front-row guests and girls-about-town—like Jen Brill, Leigh Lezark and M.I.A.—will no doubt want to keep in mind.